Prime Minister's Youth Award recipient a budding author

Shereita Grizzle, Gleaner Writer

History might be her major at the University of the West Indies, Mona, but 21-year-old Christena Antonia Valaire Williams has a passion for poetry. It was that passion, coupled with her extraordinary poems that recently gained her the Prime Minister's Youth Award for Arts and Culture.

She began writing at the age of 10, but said her initial intention was never to share her work with anyone.

"I was always a shy person, so I wrote for myself. I didn't really want to share the things I wrote but my mother and a few friends insisted," she said.

She described herself as a radical poet whose pen is a lethal weapon of hope and change, but Williams admitted that she didn't realise that her work would have such an impact.

"I didn't realise my writing could touch people the way it has. I have had so many persons come up to me on the road or inbox me on Facebook to say that I have been an inspiration," she said.

Recalling the moment she won the Prime Minister's Youth Award, Williams said, "Just to be shortlisted in itself was an honour. I didn't think about winning, I was just enjoying the moment, and to be named as one of the 25 of 41 nominees to win was just awesome."

Hopes to inspire others

She now hopes to use the award to spread the timeless message of making possibilities out of impossibilities.

"I just want to inspire others, especially the youth and women, I want them to see that no matter the circumstances, anything is possible if you put your mind to it and work tirelessly at it."

Last year with the aid of Canadian publisher, Brian Wrixon, Williams released a book of poems titled Pearls among Stones. It caught the attention of columnist Dr Glenville Ashby, who, in a review, described Williams as "an unapologetic nationalist, wounded by the discord and betrayal of her people".

He went on to say Williams' art has ripened with time to produce "a compilation of poetic pieces that unfold in stages while banging on the walls of the reader's conscience".

The publication is available at Blurb online bookstores.

Williams hopes to one day own her own publishing firm, but for now is focused on completing her Bachelor of Arts degree while she hones her craft.

She is also working on completing a new book, Out from Babylon System: Liberation of Mind to be published by Kingstar Digital publishing from Nigeria.

shereita.grizzle@gleanerjm.com